Ayata Lab in Summer 2025

Ayata Lab in Summer 2024

Ayata Lab in Summer 2022

Pinar Ayata

Principal Investigator (August 2020 – present)

Pinar received her BSc in Biological and Biomedical Science in Turkey, where she was born and raised. During her undergraduate studies, she did summer internships at the German Cancer Research Center and Harvard Medical School. During her PhD thesis research in the lab of Dr. Nathaniel Heintz at The Rockefeller University, she focused on understanding the role of a novel DNA modification in Rett syndrome. Her postdoctoral work in the lab of Dr. Anne Schaefer at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai highlighted the epigenetic mechanisms that maintain microglial subtype specification and their importance for normal brain function. She also discovered that transcriptional regulation shapes the population dynamics of AD-associated microglia. Pinar’s work has received several awards, including the Women and Science Graduate Fellow Award, the NARSAD Young Investigator Award, the Robin Chemers Neustein Postdoctoral Award, the Kavli Foundation Award, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and NIH R01 award.

Anna Flury

PhD student (September 2022 – present)
Provost’s Pre-Dissertation Science Research Fellowship, 2024
Doctoral Student Research Grant (DSRG), 2024
ASRC Private Donor Student Conference Travel Award, 2024
Mina Rees Dissertation Fellowship in the Sciences, 2025-2026
Kaplan Travel Award, 2025

Anna is a PhD student in Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology Program. She received a BA in Molecular and Cellular Biology from UC Berkeley in 2019, where she worked in an evolutionary genetics lab with yeast. After that, she went on to work with C. elegans on another evolutionary genetics project as a Research Associate at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging.

Leen Aljayousi

PhD student (September 2022 – present)
Provost’s Pre-Dissertation Science Research Fellowship2024
Doctoral Student Research Grant (DSRG), 2025
Kaplan Travel Award, 2025

Leen is a PhD student in Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology Program. Her research interest revolves around exploring the role of epigenetic changes on behavior and neurodegenerative disorders. She completed her undergraduate studies in Biology at Al-Quds Bard College in Palestine. There she joined the Palestinian Neuroscience Initiative (PNI) and conducted her undergraduate research on the effects of serotonin transporter haplotypes on rule generalization in healthy individuals. She then continued to work as a research associate in the behavioral neurogenetics unit at the PNI investigating the effects of Dopamine and serotonin SNPs on cognitive functions in humans.

Jack Mechler

PhD student (October 2023 – present)
NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) NanoBioNYC Program Award, 2023-2025
Doctoral Student Research Grant (DSRG), 2025

Jack is a PhD student in the Biochemistry Program and he is co-mentored with Amedee des Georges at NYU. He did his undergraduate at Saint Lawrence University, where he worked in the Marano lab researching bacterial amyloid proteins. In his PhD studies, he has worked in the lab of his co-mentor Dr. Amedee des Georges, to uncover the structural stories of native membrane protein interaction, to this end, employing cutting-edge techniques in in situ cryo-electron microscopy. He is interested in leveraging these techniques to study the structural components of Alzheimer’s disease. Outside of research, Jack is an avid reader and writer.

Noelle Gentille

PhD student (March 2025 – present)

Noelle is a PhD student in the CUNY Neuroscience Collaborative program (CNC). She graduated from Barnard College and worked at Columbia University, researching myogenic factors in sea urchins. She then worked with Drs Richard Axel and Thomas Jessell, where she made transgenic mice. She then received her M.A. in Philosophy at Tufts University before starting the master’s program in Cognitive Neuroscience at CUNY. There, she worked in a lab focusing on the role of the Sonic Hedgehog pathway in Parkinson’s Disease and addiction. When she’s not in the lab, she is either reading, running, or drinking far too much coffee.

Jay O’Neel

Master’s student (October 2025 – present)

Jay is a Master’s student in Cognitive Neuroscience. She received a BS in Psychology with a Neuroscience focus from Penn State University in 2024, with research experience in behavioral endocrinology and evolution. In addition to this lab, Jay is a member of Dr. Junghoon Kim’s lab, studying the effects of transcranial photobiomodulation on TBI neurodegeneration. Aside from conducting research or studying for classes, you will likely find Jay reading or listening to music.

Nana-Ama Acheampong

Undergraduate student (October 2025 – present)

Nana-Ama is a Biochemistry student in the Macaulay Honors Program at CCNY. Her interest in neurodegenerative diseases began while watching her father care for ALS patients. She is considering pursuing an MD/PhD to advance research in neuroscience while staying connected to clinical practice. In her free time, she enjoys swimming and bike riding.

Anna Vikatos

Undergraduate student (August 2024-present)

Anna is a Biochemistry major and Psychology minor in the Macaulay Honors Program at CCNY. She is interested in understanding the mechanisms behind neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. During her time at the Bronx High School of Science, she studied vagus nerve anatomy and VNS therapy at the Feinstein Institute. She plans to pursue an MD/PhD to continue her work in neurodegeneration. Outside of academics, Anna enjoys attending concerts and biking around NYC.

Paula Espinoza Patino

Rotation PhD student (Fall 2025)

Paula is a PhD student in the Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology Program. She received a BS in Biology from Simmons University and studied spinal cord regeneration in axolotls at Northeastern University. After graduating, she worked in the Maguire lab at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she studied adeno-associated virus vectors for gene therapies to treat neurodegenerative diseases.

Zeynep Cinal

Rotation PhD student (Fall 2025)

Zeynep is a PhD student in the Biochemistry program. She earned her degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics from Bilkent University, where she completed internships on gene editing approaches for Parkinson’s disease and reconstituting RNA polymerase II to study its interactions. She is interested in understanding the biochemical pathways involved in neurodegenerative diseases.

Sophia Betzios

Rotation PhD student (November 2025- present)

Sophia is a PhD student in the Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology program at The CUNY Graduate Center. She received her BA and MA in Biology from Queens College, CUNY. During her Master’s degree, she worked in the Tajerian Lab studying peripheral neuropathy and plasticity of the brain vasculature system for her Master’s thesis. Upon completing her thesis, she worked as a member of the Faust Lab at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, a neuropathology lab studying Essential Tremor. Her interests include neurobiology research with a translational approach.

Former Members & Alumni

Rotation Ph.D. Students

Swastik PG (MCD, Fall 2021)

Erna Mitaishvili (MCD, Fall 2021)

Praveena Naidu (MCD, Spring 2022)

Ezekiel Willerson (CNC, Spring 2022)

Anastassiya (Nastya) Kim (MCD, Fall 2022)

Mitali Bhate (Biochemistry, Spring 2023)

Siaresh Aziz (CNC, Fall 2023)

Denice Moran Ramirez (MCD, Spring 2024)

Reza Lagzian (Biochemistry, Fall 2024)

Noushid Zare (Biochemistry, Fall 2024)

Hrutvik Bhavsar (MCD, Fall 2024)

Maryam Aslam (MCD, Spring 2025)

Ignatius Azure (Biochemistry, Spring 2025)

Pius Boateng (Biochemistry, Spring 2025)

Cullen Roeder (Biochemistry, Spring 2025)

Aliya Mambetalieva (CNC, Spring 2025)

Undergraduate Students

Hannah Tetrault (Summer 2021)

Dvir Avnon-Klein (2021-2023); current: PhD, Rockefeller University; Excellence in Neuroscience Research Award, Best General Presentation at the CUNY Graduate Center SciCom Symposium